Zika remains global emergency, virus still spreading, says WHO

The World Health Organization says the outbreak of Zika remains an international health emergency and the virus is continuing to infect new countries.

The UNhealth agency convened its expert committee this week to assess the latest status of the epidemic.

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Dr. DavidHeymann, the committee's chair, said Friday that considerable gaps remain in understandingZikaand the complications linked to the mosquito-borne disease including brain-damaged babies and WHO concluded that the outbreak remains a global emergency.

WHO noted thatBrazilhas not reported any confirmed cases ofZikafollowing the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, although studies are ongoing in the country to figure out why certain regions have seen an increase in babies being born with abnormally small heads.

To date,Zikahas infected people in72 countries and territories since 2007, with 69 reporting cases since2015.

On Friday, Singapore reported 38 newcases of locally transmitted Zika infection.

Authorities in Singapore, a regional financial centre andtransit hub, said they had detected 189 people with the Zikavirus in total, including two pregnant woman.

The first locally transmitted Zika infection was reported onSaturday.

Some countries praisedfor Zika responses

Singapore hasbeen a "model country" in its response, involving significant lab work, publichealth measuresand vector [mosquito]control, said Dr. Peter Salama, executive director of the World Health Organization's health emergency program.

"Brazil hasfollowed a similar model, giving us quickreporting," he told reporters at a briefing Friday after the latestmeeting of the WHO's emergency committee on Zika.

Despite that assessment, the illnessremainsa "public health emergency of international concern," Salama said.

Heymann said Africa is of special interest, because the scope of theoutbreaks thereremains unknown,due to a lack of reporting.

Singapore has been able to identify cases "very early,"Heymannsaid, adding it hasa "very technically advanced health system."

West African country reports Zika cases

Four cases of Zika infection were confirmed in Guinea-Bissau in July.

The West African country reported it had five cases of microcephaly, the birth defect linked to Zika, shortly before declaring the outbreak, which the WHO said stems from the African strain of the virus, not the Asian strain that has been spreading quickly in Brazil and elsewhere in the Americas since 2015.

Salama said that while Zika samples from the country appear to be from the African strain, it hasn't been determined whether the African strain of the virus might also be responsible for the neurological problems.

Brazil has the vast majority of cases of microcephaly, or infants born with abnormally small heads. The WHO has investigated 1,845 casesso far.

According to the Florida Department of Health, there have been 47 cases of Zika in people believed to have contracted the virus through local mosquitoes. Active transmission is thought to be occurring only in two small areas around Miami.

After Hurricane Hermine came ashore along the northern Gulf Coast early Friday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged people to dump standing water, "no matter how small," to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds.

The main symptoms of Zika infection include a skinrash with or without mild fever, muscle ache,fatigue, and headache.Up to 80 per cent of cases are asymptomatic.